It is well known that much effort and energy is presently being devoted to development of telephony-related hardware and software. This development is driven largely by an ever-increasing demand for better and faster communication, and enabled in large part by advancements in computer science. In the telephony arts, for example, it is now common for telephony switches in public and private networks to be enhanced by connected computers in what is known as computer-telephony integration (CTI), wherein the connected computers run CTI applications of many sorts involved in monitoring and controlling telephony traffic.
It is also well known in the art that many organizations now employ call centers wherein agents of the organization occupy workstations equipped with telephones and computer stations. In many cases the computer stations in such a call center are interconnected via a local area network (LAN), and a CTI processor connected to the switching equipment at the call center may also connect on the same LAN, along with various other servers and processors. In such systems there may also be Internet and Intranet connections in almost any combination. Many such combinations are possible with regards to various network linking.
It is also well-known in the art that many individuals in the homes and both small and large businesses have both telephone service and network connected computers, such as personal computers at their workstations. A person at home with an Internet-connected computer and a telephone is at least potentially connected to millions of other telephones and computers throughout the world, including the stations of agents representing many companies.
In the highly interconnected computer and telephony world described above there is a need in many instances for real-time status information, and many systems are known to the inventor and in the art that assemble and provided such information. For example, in call centers, CTI servers and/or other servers network-connected to a CTI server in turn connected to telephony switching equipment, record and update status of the call center (agent availability, phones on-hook, off-hook, etc.). Such activity is often assembled and processed statistically for purposes of call-loading and routing decisions. Typically in a call center an agent at the beginning of a shift or session logs on and logs out at the end of a session. Data is kept relating employees to extension numbers at the call center, and so on.
As another example, call forwarding is a well-known function of many types of call-switching equipment, and remote call forwarding may be done. As still another example, there exists today technology whereby, in a network, it is known on the network when a station is on-line. On the Internet, there are commercially-available systems wherein on-line and off-line status is signaled between associated stations via a common server, which detects when a subscriber comes on line and reports the status to other subscribers.
With all of the existing interconnectivity of telephony equipment and computer equipment in the world, along with all of the status and statistical monitoring and reporting being done, very little to the present inventor' knowledge is done to effectively share the information over the interconnected systems. What is clearly needed is an interactive directory system adapted to find, access, and use status information.